It might have been a term coined by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt but our prime minister Justin Trudeau did the bully pulpit one better. It was living in Rideau Cottage while the official residence at 21 Sussex was under repair. Trudeau did a cuckoo clock single out the front door
Continue readingTag: Provincial Politics
Babel-on-the-Bay: Doug Ford buys Ontario.
Listening to premier Doug Ford blow on about his Buy Ontario pitch brings back memories. After all I go back to the days when the province used to promote doing home renovation jobs in winter “When men and materials are available.” But Doug’s objective is to compete with president-elect Joe
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Colour coding Doug Ford.
A month ago, Ontario premier Doug Ford turned thumbs down on colour coding the severity of the pandemic. Now he tells us the doctors have talked him into doing it. In among the much more interesting American election news the other evening there was an item about the new color
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The ground game has gone south?
In my years in politics, I have taught thousands of people how the political ground game is played. It is basic to politics throughout North America. It takes lots of experience and determination to learn. You have to win some and lose some. This comes to mind because the wife’s
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The kid who couldn’t.
Sam Oosterhoff MPP, is the youngest person, at 19, to be elected to the Ontario legislature. He might also be the MPP with the most to learn. The member for Niagara West received a more dubious first when he was made parliamentary assistant to the minister of education. It must
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Foregone Conclusions.
A reader asked me recently why I was paying so little attention to the two by-elections in Toronto Centre and York Centre in Toronto. Knowing the two ridings like the back of your hand does not make them more interesting. It just makes the process more boring. But if you
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Understanding ranked ballots.
It looks as though we need to be sure we are on the same side when it comes to understanding ranked ballots in voting. Some people think they are a good idea. I would like to question that. Start with how ranked ballots are designed: you have a sheet of
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Dougie Dumps Ranked Ballots.
You have to hand it to Ontario premier Doug Ford. He rarely gets much right. He just knows what he hates about municipal politics—anything that the downtown Toronto councillors like. This includes changing the voting from first-past-the-post (FPTP) to ranked ballots. The change had been allowed under provincial legislation but
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Temptation to be Tory.
It appears that the leopard is still unable to change his spots. At least conservatives such as Ontario’s Doug Ford and Alberta’s Jason Kenney fail to stray long from their expected courses. Mean buggers, both of them. They are conservative to the core. Take Jason Kenney. Since college in San
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Ford cures covid-19 numbers.
Premier Ford of Ontario has a salesman’s way with numbers. You want fewer people with covid-19 from the coronavirus, he gives you lower figures. He can even flatten the curve. The secret is in the number of tests. He has it all figured out. He has found that he who
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Condemning the Ford government.
Only the other day, I was saying: The objective is to run the government in accord with their dogma. They are not running it for you. The front page Toronto Star exclusive by reporter Bruce Arthur this morning tells the story. Despite all of Doug Ford’s bluster about ramping up
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Mr. Ford is enjoying the game.
Doug Ford has come a long way for a guy who made his mark selling labels for his father’s printing company. Today, in the midst of a pandemic, he is immersed in the multi-billion dollar health and education business of the Ontario government. And with no effective direction or even
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: It’s not about Alberta, Mr. Kenney.
It is a shame that the voters in Alberta have not told Jason Kenney the hard truth. He has to understand that he took responsibility for Alberta’s economic problems when he became premier. If he is unable to solve those economic problems, then the people of Alberta should find someone
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: It’s all bad news for Jason Kenney.
If you had a Voodoo doll, would you call it Jason Kenney and stick pins in it? Well, somebody must be! Of all the business indices listed in the Toronto Star yesterday, oil was the only commodity showing its usual downward spiral. It is so bad that the Organization of
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Ties that bond.
A friend sent me a copy of a letter he sent to two liberal members of the Ontario Legislature the other day. He was concerned about Ontario’s lack of planning for electrical generation in the next couple of decades. He is particularly concerned that Ontario’s nuclear generation capabilities are well
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Ontario’s petulant premier.
After more than a year of silly stickers on our gas pumps, Ontario voters have got the message. And the Ontario Court System has finally got around to noting that that the Ontario government’s stickers are in breach of the retailers’ Charter rights. Is this a fair resolution to the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The boy who called Wolf.
It is important to remember better days in politics. Like the time I had a laugh with conservative premier Bill Davis. I was able to introduce him to a large luncheon at Toronto’s Royal York Hotel as “The man on my far right, William Davis, Premier of Ontario.” His retort,
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: If you cannot honour our past…
How can we expect you to honour our future? Just get your Goddamn hands off John A. Macdonald. Nobody has the right to damage or deface a statue of an honoured Canadian. We have so damn few real heroes in Canada, we need to cherish the ones we have. You
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: I’m Ba-ack.
The reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. I have spent the past three weeks in hospital. I remember waking up after an operation to put my ankle back together. I was completely disoriented but conscious of the need for a washroom. I remembered where I was when a
Continue readingScripturient: Whatever happened to conservatives?
It’s hard to believe these days, but in many nations, conservative political parties were once actually the defenders of the nation’s interests, of the greater good, of the public, and of the state. They weren’t always the corporate shills, protectors of billionaires, privatizing libertarians, lobbyist puppets, Talibangelist lapdogs*, and racists
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